Outdoor Industry Association released its October OIA VantagePointTM Monthly Trend Report, which reveals that outdoor product sales in October grew 7.0 percent to $735.3 million. Wintery blasts brought snow and cold to many parts of the country, boosting early season sales of outdoor apparel and hardgoods. Year‐to‐date outdoor product sales were up 6.3 percent to $7.7 billion for the nine‐month fiscal retail period running February through October.
“While retailers in the broader market may attribute some seasonal sales trends to inclement weather, outdoor product retailers rely on the first real sign of winter to get the seasonal business moving,” said LaRae Marsik, vice president business intelligence at OIA. “For example, sales of Outdoor Apparel spiked during the last week of October as consumers bought winter outerwear then wore it out the door.”
Independent Outdoor Specialty posted a 10.0 percent increase in sales and Outdoor Chain Specialty posted 13.2 percent growth for the month. The Internet channel also was up 16.4 percent for the October period. The solid increase in sales was in sharp contrast to – and in part a result of – the double‐digit declines posted by the outdoor product market in the 2010 October period.
Outdoor Apparel sales increased 8.4 percent to $298.6 million for the month of October. Apparel started the month with solid mid‐single digit growth but really picked up at the end of the month as winter threatened much of the U.S. Several flash winter storms brought the “buy now, wear now” consumer into stores, which helped reverse the negative results in October 2010 when Outdoor Apparel sales were down 7.0 percent.
Sales of Outdoor Footwear improved 8.4 percent to $150.8 million. The October growth rate, hurt by declines in the Independent Outdoor Specialty, Department Store and Family Footwear channels, fell below the year‐to‐date growth trend for the first time since June 2011.
Outdoor Hardgoods sales posted solid growth in fiscal October, up 4.7 percent to $275.9 million. Early snow in several parts of the country, including in the Rockies, had an expected and desirable effect on Snow Sports product sales within the Hardgoods category. Sales of overall Snow Sports products were up 9.1 percent for the month, and were up more than 32 percent in the combined outdoor specialty channels, the destination of choice for the dedicated winter sports athlete that reacts to the first hint of a seasonal weather shift to pursue their passion for the outdoors. The other chain and volume channels generally see bigger gains when the winter trends are more widespread and tend to affect consumers’ everyday lifestyle.
“Looking ahead to the holidays, outdoor product sales will be influenced by where and when snow and cold weather arrives in earnest for the season,” said Marsik. “Bargain-hunters will find that most retailers finished the season last year with fairly clean inventories so there is little product for early promotions. With Christmas Eve falling on a Saturday this year, cost-conscious consumers may wait until the very last minute to land a discount on their chosen outdoor product gifts.”
OIA members can access the OIA VantagePoint monthly trend report for October 2011 by logging in to www.outdoorindustry.org/vantagepoint.
OIA VantagePoint is the first and only full market point-of-sale data view built specifically for Outdoor Industry Association members. OIA VantagePoint provides comprehensive visibility into the outdoor marketplace by tracking weekly point‐of‐sale data from over 10,000 retail doors and websites carrying outdoor products, including over 350 outdoor specialty locations.
